Grisanti-sponsored e-Waste collection event a success for Western New York

by jmaloni

Mon, Oct 8th 2012 02:55 pm

More than 2,000 cars drop
off 80,000 pounds of electronics to be recycled

State Sen. Mark Grisanti has
announced that more than 80,000 pounds of electronic waste was collected and
recycled at a free event on Saturday at St. Amelia School. Grisanti hosted the
drop-off in cooperation with SunnKing Electronic Recycling Inc.

Residents of Tonawanda and
throughout Erie County dropped off items as small as computer keyboards and as
large as copy machines and flat screen televisions. Volunteers from the Town of
Tonawanda Aquettes assisted with the unloading of cars in an effort to move the
process smoothly along throughout the day. The success of this inaugural event
has organizers planning a second event for next year.

"I am proud to have
provided the citizens of Western New York with an easy way to empty out their
basements or closets and responsibly recycle and dispose of e-Waste materials,"
said Grisanti, chairman of the Senate environmental conservation committee. "By
orchestrating a convenient location to drop off these items, we have prevented
them from being left at the curb and have helped make Western New York a
cleaner, healthier place to live. The success of this event has us already discussing
with SunnKing our next opportunity for collaboration."

The average wait time
per vehicle was less than three minutes. There were more than 50
volunteers from Grisanti's office, local law firms, the University at Buffalo,
Tonawanda Aquettes, and the community at large. The event filled three tractor-trailers
worth of electronics.

New York state does not allow
certain electronic products, including computers, cell phones, CD players,
cameras, office machines, electronic games, to be thrown in with regular
garbage. The law mandates proper disposal to keep materials such as lead,
nickel, cadmium and mercury from negatively impacting human health and the
environment. The recycling of these materials provides the opportunity to
recover valuable materials, as well as helping to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and pollution, saving energy and other natural resources by
extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.